Baby's guardian charged with murder in child-abuse killing

Staff report

The guardian of a 9-month-old boy has been charged with murder several weeks after she beat him, shook him and slammed his head against a changing table, prosecutors said.

Aiden Dukes was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital on Sept. 28 and Patricia McKinney, 30, his guardian, was initially charged with aggravated battery to a child and ordered held in lieu of $2 million bail, authorities said at the time. McKinney has now been charged with first-degree murder and Cook County Criminal Court Judge Laura Sullivan ordered her held without bail in a hearing midday today, said Cook County state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

Doctors alerted police after they determined Aiden, of the 7100 block of South Bennett Avenue, had suffered rib and skull fractures and other injuries believed to be the result of child abuse, police said. He was declared dead at 4:45 p.m. Oct. 1, the day after McKinney initially appeared in court, authorities said.

On Sept. 28, McKinney became angry because Aiden would not stop crying, prosecutors said today. McKinney held Aiden up in her arms, squeezing him and then shaking him until he stopped crying, prosecutors said.

When Aiden started crying again, McKinney slammed him onto a bed and hit in the abdomen several times, prosecutors said.

Later in the day, McKinney heard Aiden crying again, and went to pick him up. She slammed his head against the metal frame of a baby changing table, and when she realized he was no longer breathing, she began doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called 911, prosecutors said.

Aiden was taken to the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, where doctors determined he had numerous injuries from child abuse, prosecutors said. Among his injuries traceable to child abuse were skull fractures, as well as rib fractures in various states of healing, a broken left elbow, a bone chip from his left shoulder, a fractured left leg bone and possible brain atrophy.

Following an autopsy Oct. 2, the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined Aiden died from multiple injuries from child abuse in a homicide.

McKinney admitted to investigators that she had shaking Aiden, hitting him and slamming him down, prosecutors said.

McKinney is due back in Branch 66 at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building on Nov. 8.